SOLD OUT: Excavations at a Forgotten Female Pharaoh’s Temple

Tausret, the last ruling descendant of Ramesses the Great, was among very few women in over 3,000 years of Egyptian history to hold the throne alone. Indeed, Homer relays that she was king of Egypt when Troy fell. Using a variety of investigative methods, this excavation in Western Thebes (modern Luxor) has challenged the assumption that her primary monument was never completed. Archaeological evidence shows a functional and structurally complete temple (c. 1190 BCE) prior to its destruction in the 20th Dynasty by a new ruling family. Inscriptions also attest that Tausret reigned for longer than is traditionally assigned.

Co-presented with the Archaeological Institute of America.

Pearce Paul Creasman, PhD, is associate professor of Egyptology & Dendrochronology and curator of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona. He is also director of the University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition.